According to NAILS magazine, in 2005 there were over 57,000 nail salons in the U.S. employing over 380,000 licensed nail technicians. The vast majority (95%) of these employees are women. Nail technicians are also predominately women of color (59%). The largest ethnic group represented are Vietnamese women who comprise 38% of nail technicians country-wide. The average age of nail technicians is 38, and the average length of time spent in the nail industry is 8.6 years. Customers at nail salons are also predominately women, comprising 94% of all customers. The nail salon industry has experienced tremendous growth in the last 10 years, with an increase of 374% in the number of salons and an increase of 327% in the number of nail technicians.2 These demographic trends in the industry have profound impacts. For one, women of child bearing age, are especially vulnerable to even low levels of toxic exposure, due to the potential impacts on a developing child. Many technicians are also at risk due to the common problem of a language barrier. Women do not haveto be fluent in English to become licensed technicians, yet important safety information is usually not available in the language they can read. This is especially true among the Vietnamese population.
By Alexandra Gorman and Philip O’Connor: Women’s Voices for the Earth, February 2007
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